Dubai to gauge your tone to know how happy you are

The Smart Dubai Office has signed an agreement to research and design 'Vocal Emotions' technology which measures residents' emotions at any given moment by analysing the tonality of voice and other vocal properties.
According to the agreement, the Smart Dubai Office and Smartmedical company will cooperate in enhancing happiness in Dubai. This is in line with the Happiness Agenda launched by the Smart Dubai Office.
Aisha Butti bin Bishr, director-general of the Smart Dubai Office, stressed that the agreement is a sign of commitment to people's happiness.
"After the success of implementing the Happiness Meters across the city, introducing Vocal Emotions technology in Dubai is part of the next phase of the Happiness Agenda's 'Measure' portfolio," she said. "Using this technology, we now wish to have a deeper understanding of people's emotions and sentiments. Based on the results of this we will continue working with partners from the public and private sectors to further explore innovative ways of increasing happiness levels in the city, making Dubai the happiest city on earth."
Nozumu Shibasaki, CEO and founder of Smartmedical, said the development of the technology came after the tsunami that struck Japan in 2011. "We wanted to help the families of the victims and their caregivers, and ease their pain and prevent any potential mental disorders that may (have resulted) ... from this disaster," he said. "After three years of development, we launched Vocal Emotions in the market, which instantly became very popular due to its accuracy, high quality and usability. It helped us bring out a good mood among employees.
"Japan has been a friend of the UAE for 40 years, and we are honoured to work with Smart Dubai to make the emirate the world's happiest city," Shibasaki added.
Dr Abdul Salam Al Madani, chairman of INDEX Holding - which is Smartmedical's premier partner in implementing the project - said that the company hoped to support the UAE's efforts to promote happiness and establish positive lifestyles in the community.
"The government business model is based on three pillars: A happy and positive work environment; happy and positive attitude; and happy and positive lifestyle. As the agent of Smartmedical, we are providing the region with the 'Empath' technology, developed by the firm's IT and communication department," he said. "This technology recognises and measures different emotions such as happiness, sadness and anger, whatever the language of the speaker, by analysing the multiple physical properties of the voice such as the tone, sharpness, rhythm, strength and vocal layers."
reporters@khaleejtimes.com